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School Holidays in South Africa

School holidays are a tricky business in South Africa. The holiday dates change each year, and vary between the country’s four coastal and five inland provinces. Despite the hassle of pinning them down, however, it’s a good idea to bear them in mind when planning your trip here – South Africans travel the most during school holidays, placing extra demand on accommodation, game parks and so on.

  • The rule of thumb to follow when factoring SA school holidays into your trip planning is to expect them to fall once per quarter, along these lines:
    • From the whole of December through the first three weeks (coastal provinces) or first two weeks (inland provinces) of January;
    • From the last few days of March through the first two weeks (coastal) or first three weeks (inland) of April;
    • From the last week of June through the first three weeks of July (both coastal and inland);
    • and from the last week of September through the first few days of October (both coastal and inland).

  • Find the specific dates of the school holidays each year from SA’s Education Ministry (look for the “School Calendar”), or, through 2006, from Routes.co.za.